Celebrities dish on other celebs in ‘Celebrity Autobiography’

The comedy sensation visits the Madison Theatre

Posted
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 12:10 pm

Melissa Manchester and creator Eugene Pack will share the stage in "Celebrity Autobiography" on Friday.

Tibrina Hobson

By Karen Bloom

How does Vanna flip her panels? What does Stallone have in his freezer? Why did Burt and Loni topple from the upper tier of their wedding cake? What makes the Jonas Brothers get along? Find all this out and more when the comedy show, “Celebrity Autobiography: We Couldn’t Make This Stuff Up,” arrives at the Madison Theatre, on Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. Created and developed by comedy writer-performer Eugene Pack (who grew up in Massapequa), with Dayle Reyfel, an all-star ensemble — including SNL alum Rachel Dratch and Ralph Macchio — acts out jaw-dropping vignettes inspired and torn straight from the pages of celebrity tell-alls. Singer Melissa Manchester and Steve Schirripa, well-known for his role on the “The Sopranos,” along with Pack and Reyfel, complete the cast for this unique evening that puts a hilarious spin on the actual words and stories written by the famous and the infamous in their autobiographies and reminiscences. This bicoastal tour de force began over a decade ago in Los Angeles. Pack, who has a fascination with celebrity memoirs, was inspired after reading Vanna White’s tome, “Vanna Speaks.” “I was amazed that she could fill a whole book with her life story,” Pack says. “I thought it was really funny, even though she was not trying to be humorous.” The concept took off from there. “I thought wow, if read out loud in front of an audience, this could really be funny and maybe even a hit.” And a hit it is. A line-up of rotating performers read (or interpret) — in both solo and ensemble pieces —bits and passages from the life stories of the likes of Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Ivana Trump, Mr. T, Star Jones, Kenny Loggins, Tommy Lee, Sylvester Stallone, the Jonas Brothers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, David Cassidy, Neil Sedaka, Britney Spears, Madonna, Burt Reynold, Loni Anderson, and of course, Vanna White. “The show instantly connected with the audience,” Pack recalls. Word spread and it aired as a special on Bravo in 2005. From there the comedy sensation moved east.